


Awkwardness and Special Books

by wickedorin



Category: Tiger & Bunny
Genre: AU, M/M, references to yaoi doujinshi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-07
Updated: 2014-07-07
Packaged: 2018-02-08 04:52:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1927320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wickedorin/pseuds/wickedorin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written as a fill for a drabble request on AwaitingMassProduction: "Kotetsu finds something incriminating of Kurou’s."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Awkwardness and Special Books

"H-hey. I, um. I found something. Of yours."

Blinking, the android regarded Kotetsu for nearly a full second before speaking. “I did not realize that I had misplaced anything.”

Kotetsu coughed, unable to quite look Kurou in the eye as he handed the… book over. “More like I think I kind of accidentally kicked this out from under the couch.”

Tilting his head, the android reached for the book being offered—then recognized it for what it was: an illustrated “Black Suit”/Wild Tiger book which had been marked (and was in fact) “not for minors”. He’d been so very intrigued to see such a thing openly for sale at a local independent book store that he felt compelled to buy it, to know what was inside. Beautifully illustrated and interestingly imagined, the book presented rather intriguing possibilities from some of HERO TV’s more artistically talented fanbase. Even so… he supposed what he was actually feeling at that moment was a little embarrassment. “Ah. Thank you. I must apologize for not keeping this in a more secure location.”

The man chuckled, trying hard not to look like he was fidgeting. It didn’t work. “Yeah, well. I was pretty sure you were gonna say it wasn’t yours.”

"I have no intention of lying to you, Kotetsu."

"Ha. Well. That… might have been easier." He coughed quietly.

"What is your meaning, precisely?"

The brunet coughed a bit louder. “Um, so… this is yours? You bought this?”

Kurou wasn’t exactly following. “Yes.”

Oh. Well. “Okay. So… did you know what it was before you paid for it?”

"Yes."

Clearing his throat, he knew that Kurou was running out of possible excuses. “O-okay. Can… I ask why?”

"Why I purchased this book?"

"Yeah…"

"I was curious." The android expressed simply, with perfect honesty.

"Curious? Oh, well. Yeah, curiosity. I mean, I used to be curious about these kinds of things too, but… I stopped." Kotetsu’s laugh was a little nervous. "I am… so not into what some of the fans think I’m into, y’know?"

There was a pause. Short, but noticeable. “I believe that I can comprehend your basic meaning.” The android agreed.

"I mean, you can’t… y’know. You’re not… Uh. You and me." He made a gesture between them, not unlike a drowning man reaching for some rope. "That’d be weird, right?"

Another very slight pause followed. Kurou then commented, “It would likely be awkward and create unnecessary tension.”

"Yeah. To say the least, yeah." The laugh was a little forced. Then there was a long pause, Kotetsu trying to figure out if he even wanted to ask, let alone have the question answered. "S-so. I mean, you haven’t ever… like… wondered… Have you?”

"Wondered what, precisely?"

There was no way he was that innocent… was there? “Ah. A-about… like, um. You and me. Doing… w-whatever happens in there.” He pointed to the book and made an effort not to directly look at it himself.

Kurou’s head tilted sharply. “Is this a point in time when there is such a thing as ‘too much honesty?”

The man scrubbed his face with one hand. “I think that was enough of an answer. Thanks.”

"You are welcome."

Maybe it was some need to “parent” the parent-less android that drove him to ignoring the screaming desire to end the whole conversation at that point. “Kurou, you… You know we can’t, right? I mean… that’d be weird. Yeah? Reality and, um… fantasy… Is that even a— You know what, don’t answer that. It’s just… we can’t. Okay?”

The android blinked slowly, the responding silence lasting less than a full second. “I believe that I understand.”

The tension didn’t exactly fall away from Kotetsu’s shoulders entirely, but that answer was a hell of a lot more hopeful than he’d expected. “You do?”

"Yes." Kurou assured. "It would be incredibly awkward for the two of us to become intimate in such a way with one another."

"Heh, yeah, that’s it. I’m glad you got it."

"I am, after all, quite similar to you in terms of appearance and perhaps even in preferences."

"I— What?"

"Perhaps even in some tactile sensations." The android continued on as if uninterrupted. "It might well be incredibly awkward to be quite so familiar with desire and response when there seems no logical ‘reason’ to be so familiar to start."

Kotetsu was just… quiet for a moment. “Wait, you think… we have, uh, similar…”

"I believe that some of my preferences and indeed certain ‘sensation points’ are a direct result of the attempted brainwave transfer." Kurou confirmed rather easily. "There seems little more explanation."

There was a bit more silence before the man finally gave into just a touch more curiosity. “So… do you like the knee thing?”

“‘Knee thing’? I have had a number of dream scenarios, but never have I encountered a—”

"Maybe it’s better we keep that a mystery, huh?" Kotetsu spoke up, cutting the android off before he was given much too much information.

"As you wish. I would not desire to disrespect you or make you uncomfortable, Kotetsu."

"I know you wouldn’t, I know. Just… keep these somewhere else, yeah?" He gestured vaguely toward the book.

"Yes."

He should have let it go. He really, really should have. “By the way, um… how many of these have you got?”

Tempted as Kurou was to remind Kotetsu that the conversation had just effectively ended, he supplied, “A collection of 17.”

"Wh—what?!"

"17. Though there is a local group which is planning to make another within the next few months. I may attempt to ‘pre-order’ it."

It wasn’t exactly horror on the man’s face. But it wasn’t exactly not-horror. He wasn’t particularly sure what he was feeling, or should be feeling, or why he got the feeling that thinking about it probably wasn’t good. “Okay. You know what? Let’s just not talk about this ever again. I never found anything, you don’t have anything, this never happened, we’re just gonna get pizza and forget.”

Kotetsu did seem to be insisting quite a lot. In that case. “Understood.”


End file.
